Connecticut is dangling a $1M contract to promote the “common core” educational standards blueprint that allegedly helps children become “critical thinkers.”

The Nutmeg State’s Education Department says four firms are under consideration for the work, but refuses to divulge the names of the lucky PR vendors.

The PR push is supposed to target parents with info about the benefits of the teaching standards and how the format will benefit both the kids and the state.

The CT News Junkie site quoted Robert Rader, executive director of the Connecticut Assn. of Boards of Education, saying the common core “will provide a clearer, deeper understanding of what our students will need to enter the global marketplace.”

Connecticut will spend about $15M during the next two years to put the common core into schools.